Fronted by banjoist, singer and songwriter Gina Furtado, the Gina Furtado Project lays heavy emphasis on catchy, relatable, original material that spans the gamut from bluegrass to swing to gypsy jazz and beyond. 

Twice nominated for the International Bluegrass Music Association’s Banjo Player of the Year, Gina began touring up and down the east coast in her tween years with her siblings, earning countless ribbons from fiddlers conventions, a strong reputation in the regional bluegrass scene, and a stamp from Bluegrass Today as “absurdly talented”. 

Her debut album, True Colors, was released in September 2017 and debuted at #13 on Bluegrass Billboard Charts, and boasts two #1 songs on Bluegrass Today Charts. Never one to drop the ball, she followed quickly with a second album, “I Hope You Have a Good Life”,  which was released in September 2019 and debuted at #6 on Bluegrass Billboard Charts. No Depression promptly declared the project to be “fun, energetic and riveting.”

Don’t miss the Gina Furtado Project at the 2020 Sugar Maple Music Festival on Saturday, Aug. 1. 

~written by Kimberly Schmitt

This year Sugar Maple Fest will go out with a “yippee-ki-yay!” The Radio Wranglers will be playing Midwestern Swing on the Main Stage Saturday, August 5^th from 9 PM until we all ride off into the sunset together.

The Radio Wranglers are from Wisconsin, but you wouldn’t know it by the looks of them. They dress and sound like the vintage Country and Western, Western Swing, and Honky Tonk artists who inspired them—the likes of Bob Wills, Ernest Tubb, Milton Brown, Jack Guhrie, Tex Williams, Webb Pierce, Hank Thompson, and Hank Williams.

Headed up by twin fiddle team, Blaine and Ruthie McQuinn, the Radio Wranglers perform both original songs and classic covers backed by the highly experienced hands of Danny Tyksinski (lead guitar), Ed Novak (rhythm guitar), and Peyton Lencho (bass).

The Radio Wranglers’ range spreads far beyond America’s Dairyland. They’ve had the pleasure of playing at Opryland and the Nashville Boogie Vintage Weekender & Car Show (twice) in Nashville, Tennessee. In 2015, the Radio Wranglers were even nominated for an Ameripolitan Award for Western Swing group.

With such talent on stage, the festival is guaranteed to end on a high note. The Radio Wranglers will make you want to dance till the cows come home!

Keep up with the band’s latest projects and gigs, and listen to their Hillbilly Swing Favorites here. You can also follow them on Facebook.

~written by Jennifer Phistry

Clean up your cowboy boots and break out your Bolo ties! Nashville’s The Farmer and Adele will be swinging by the Sugar Maple Music Festival on August 5^th.

Grace Adele (vocals, sock-rhythm guitar), Keenan Wade (mandolin, vocals), Chris Bauer (vocals, steel guitar), and Cody Campbell (upright bass) are famous for performing original songs and covers that will delight anyone who loves that high lonesome sound. So if you like Gene Autry, Riders in the Sky, Bob Wills & His Texas Playboys, John England & the Western Swingers, Homer & Jethro, Ray Price, Don Gibson, or Patsy Cline, don’t want to miss The Farmer and Adele.

You can check out for their latest album Into the Wide Open Sky (2015), featuring the legendary country western group Riders in the Sky or click the link below to see what’s in store for everyone at the 2017 Sugar Maple Music Festival!

–written by Daniel Seifried

–written by Daniel Seifried

Mal aux doights or “Mal-O-Dua” means sore and weary finger from working!

What happened when Django Reinhardt met Merle Travis? A new style of acoustic swing was born!! Well…actually that never did really happen. However, that is the blending of styles that Mal-O-Dua is built on.

The duo pulls from a wide range of sources including early French pop, traditional Hawaiian music, Gypsy jazz, Kentucky finger picking, Western Swing, Parisian waltz, and the American standards songbook to name a few. These styles are blended to create a fresh new sound.

Cedric Baetche was born and raised in Reims, in the Champagne region of France. He has lived intermittently in Madison, WI for about a decade. Ced is a professional painter with a love of portrait, still live, and landscape painting. He studied Culinary Arts at Madison, WI’s MATC and is a certified french baker. Ced’s main guitar influence is the Kentucky finger picker Merle Travis.

Chris Ruppenthal was born in Madison, WI and grew up around the state. He is also leader for the group Caravan Gypsy Swing Ensemble and is primarily influenced by French jazz guitarist Django Reinhardt. Chris has also been known to slide around, playing country and Hawaiian steel guitar.

The 2016 Sugar Maple Traditional Music Festival kicks off with the Malt House Happy Hour Set with Mal-O-Dua.

The Four Lakes Traditional Music Collective will host the Sugar Maple Traditional Music Festival Kick Off Show on Friday, May 6th, 9:00 PM at the High Noon Saloon, in Madison, Wisconsin. The kick off show with feature two artists that played the Festival last year: The Modern Sounds and the Currach.

The Modern Sounds is a Chicago based trio featuring Joel Paterson on guitar and vocals; Beau Sample on string bass and vocals; Alex Hall on drums and vocals. This big little band is dedicated to performing traditional American music; specializing in rockabilly, hot jazz, western swing, classic blues and everything in between.

The Currach, features Darl Ridgley on bodhrán, Josh Perkins on guitar and Daithi Wolf on fiddle. This group is a Madison institution in the Irish traditional music scene, treating audiences with lively jigs and reels—“the stuff that’s been played in Irish pubs for hundreds of years,” according to Daithi Wolfe.

During the show, fans will have the opportunity to purchase weekend passes to the 2011 Sugar Maple Festival at a special Kick Off Show price of only $25! Amongst the acts lined up for this year’s Fest are Chulrua, a traditional Irish band who delivers music that has been handed down from generation to generation in Ireland, and folk legend Greg Brown, whose songwriting has been recorded by the likes of Willie Nelson, Carlos Santana, Shawn Colvin, and many more.